


A Familiar Face in the Expanse of Space

by EnlighteningGravity



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reverse Portal (Gravity Falls), Angst with a Happy Ending, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Hurt/Comfort, I like to write asshole Ford but you know I need a break, Minor Original Character(s), Portal Ford Pines, Portal Stan Pines, Stangst, a bit of cursing, aint it great that we can do that here in this fandom?, but the au is only on one side, ford's self esteem could be better but if that ego gets more inflated i'm going to scream, luckily stans there to recommend some places, maybe a line of suicidal ideation, so theres places he hasnt been to yet, this is set in the middle of Ford's trek in the multiverse, very scary aliens, violence and some body horror due to interdimensional shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:20:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26419387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnlighteningGravity/pseuds/EnlighteningGravity
Summary: Ford's travels in the multiverse get more difficult as the bounty put on him by Bill Cipher becomes more widespread.Luckily, he receives the help of someone that's both a stranger and someone he's definitely met before.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 65





	A Familiar Face in the Expanse of Space

Traveling through a rift in space-time to another dimension had its pros and cons at separate points. The masked vagabond had to weigh out each and every factor that this new world would exhibit while having the proper equipment in hand whenever necessary. Random unsolicited rifts were unpredictable and unfathomable, acting on their own as if they could command and direct their own neurons firing in their brains. While this led to horrors and atrocities as far as he could remember experiencing the past five(?) ten(?) years, it fascinated Ford to no end as he tirelessly persisted onward exploring countless worlds.

Until now.

He was done with this part of the multiverse anyhow. It had been unfriendly and rather _boring_ the more drawn out his stay had gotten. This universe was solely the experience of what one would see in a museum on earth, hallways that stretched forever were decorated with framed paintings and pictures. There was nothing else besides that, and if he knew that initially, he wouldn’t have spent an entire day exploring it. Though, what _was_ an entire day to him if a universe didn’t have a day-night cycle? At least he put in a couple of observations before diverting his full-time attention to leaving. Most of them were surprising as it was.

The pictures on the wall were seemingly this universe’s _organisms_. Strangely, they breathed through their prints, making the art shown contort ever so slightly. He would have studied these beings longer (his mind raced with questions! How do they reproduce? Do they eat? Do they even need nutrients for survival? Or are they just “made” somehow and collected in post?) however, his oxygen device was running low the longer he stayed in this dimension.

He couldn’t breathe here. There was no air (so how were _they_ breathing) that could sustain him and he couldn’t just combine the existing components around him to _make_ breathable air when there wasn’t any to begin with. So Ford encountered a rift near the center of one of the elongated hallways of this world and fumbled through his coat, taking a probe-like device out of one of the pockets and held it out in front of him, the rod at the end entering the rift.

“Air quality… composed of nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor… sounds like home,” Ford mumbled to himself when reading the data on the device and grinned in relief. He could refuel in this new dimension hopefully. Reading on, he took mental notes of the velocity, acceleration, and other features the device was listing off to him, giving him a calculation of the surface gravity, winds, air pressure, etc. 

After it finished a full report the device beeped a little jingle and said with a happy automated voice “Hey now! Good to go, All-Star!”

(He's never changed that jingle. He wouldn't answer anybody who’d ask _why_ either. The regret sets in _just_ fine every time he hears it, thank you very much.)

The list that the device coordinated honestly sounded like his origin planet and it filled him with a momentary longing to go back to it, to see his house and some trees and not have to worry if the “water” he drinks will turn him into the equivalent of human pudding. Hopefully, this dimension won’t be too troublesome in that regard. 

Ford removed the device from the rift with a scoff at the annoying chime and slipped it back into his coat. He wondered what kind of creatures inhabited _this_ world this time around and if they were dangerous (and not any parasitic-type monstrosity he’s had to fight off in dozens of other previous planets. Never easy, those ones.) 

From what he got though, it was basically like walking into Earth. He missed his home planet more than he could imagine…

_I’m never going back unless I find a paralleled one that doesn’t have a “me” in it. The chances are too slim. That knucklehead would never be able to figure it out._

Ford’s shoulders deflated as sorrow washed over him. 

_At least I hope not. I can’t afford to go back… knowing what might come out from on the other side. It’s better this way._

His gaze hardened as his eyes shut tight and he breathed deeply from the oxygen mask that was latched on his face. 

_It’s better off I’m dead to that world to begin with after all I’ve done to doom it._

Straightening up, Ford locked his eyes with the rift before him and pushed all his sorrows and conflicts into the depths of his mind as he fixed on what was ahead.

_Right now, that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. Focus. Okay, time to make the jump._

And with that, Ford leaped through the rift in spacetime, hearing it close behind him.

* * *

Ford tumbled forward, landing on his hands and with an “oof!” from behind his mask. Checking again the air was breathable, he removed the mask with a couple presses of varying buttons along its side and it unlatched from his face. Ford gasped as he stared at the ground. Finally, fresh air and… soil! Underneath his hands! Actual earth. Oh thank the axolotl, it must be an earth equivalent of some kind (this could also be a less-than-favorable version where a new different war happens between two random groups every hour like in his last "earth") but nevertheless he was about to find out what exactly was in store for him.

He stood up, seeing he'd dropped in on some kind of city from a patch of garden that was being grown outside a storefront, complimentary with a maple tree and some bushes surrounding this petite section of earth alongside city streets. A cute little area, sure. But it quiet... nearly too quiet. There were no people to be seen...

So Ford turned around slowly and his heart momentarily seized in his chest-

To be greeted with a crowd of faceless human-esque creatures “staring” right at him. 

_Ah. A dimension where everyone is faceless. Who would have thought?_

They were frozen in some sort of shock (he was used to this, however, being that he’s popped in on several different occasions for a variety of species on other planets) and some pointed at him, others were backing away slowly, smaller versions of these humans held onto their parents. The silence was agonizing and he figured they were most likely mute being they had no mouths and all. Could they see? Could they hear? These were things he strived to know with that cursed curiosity he seemed to carry with him at all times.

However, he didn't have a Ph.D. in explaining unusual things to other unusual beings when he was supposed to be the unusual thing they were seeing.

Eventually, he decided to break the tension, managing a small wave, and clearing his throat before he spoke. “Uhm… hello?” 

Upon that, the crowd scattered, running from him as quick as they possibly could, flailing in the place of what would have been screaming if only they had something to scream _with_. 

_Shit._

Well, now he had to get out of the city as soon as possible just in case they had a police or government system that could lock him up or use him for their own experimentation before the reasoning of “interdimensional traveler” could leave his lips. It's happened before, it'll happen again. Ford was running then, careening through crowds of faceless “onlookers” and shoving bodies aside as he frantically searched for a place to hide and maybe another rift of some kind to jump through as his oxygen refueled naturally. The rifts always appeared around him as if space could somehow sense he was a ways away from home. It was also convenient his probe device doubled as a sensor to nearby wormholes. Saved his skin one or two times at least. 

Ford’s boots scraped against the concrete as he turned abruptly into an alleyway and outside of the presence of the different versions of “people”. He leaned against a brick wall and attempted to catch his breath, rubbing his knuckles nervously.

Back when he was younger, Ford always pondered why aliens took to always appearing in the countryside, leaving their insignia imprinted in corn or wheat fields for farmers to find and gawk at. Now, in this visit especially, he _envied_ that tactic. Those aliens would never have to worry about the dangers of being found out in a city like this with intelligent creatures that were most likely spreading the word around assuming they had a way to communicate.

Turning tail, Ford broke into a sprint once again to go to the other end of the alleyway and improvise, hopefully finding a way out of the city before anyone could-

He halted immediately when he identified five figures standing at the edge of the alleyway.

_Shit. Shit. Shit!_

Three of them wore hoods and masks (quite similar to his breathing mask) while the other two undoubtedly belonged to this world. The two apart were faceless, yet the one to the left was larger and hooded, it's outfit paying more similarities to the alien goons cornering him at this precise moment. One of the hooded figures held up a pamphlet of some kind and showed it to the smaller of the faceless humans, who briskly nodded and pointed directly at Ford.

_This can’t be good!_

The biggest of the figures grunted, a deep animalistic sound (but at least it was a sound) emanated from its throat and through the mask. 

“Stanford Pines. Human. Wanted by the Demon known as Bill Cipher. You’re going for an awful lot, you know?”

Thanks to his model K127X dimensional translator, the words set in as soon as they had been uttered. Ford stumbled backward and moved his hands slowly to his belt, but that quickly backfired when a target became locked on him almost immediately.

“Nuh-uh, Stanford. We’ve read the poster. We know what you’re about.” To this, the two other hooded figures walked towards him while the largest kept back, aiming something at his head. What it held was alien-tech equipment, a firearm that was barely recognizable as such and could dispense anything from lasers to a material that could discorporate his body altogether. He’d rather not wait to find out what, so he stood still regardless, unnerved by the possibility one of them could have an itchy trigger finger.

“Cipher’s nothing more than a cheat and a con artist! Whatever bounty he has on me, you’ll get less than half of it. If that!” Ford yelled instead.

“We’ll take our chances. Even if you’re right-“ Two of the hooded figures grabbed Ford at his arms as the largest of them continued. “Then we would have just wasted a couple of hours tracking you. Who would have known Bill Cipher’s top Pawn was right down the street? We weren’t even here for you at first! But hey, the boys and I wouldn’t mind a universe of our own split three ways, huh?”

The two other hooded figures gave their grunts of approval, one of them (Ford just now noticed how many _arms_ that one had) reached past his coat and snagged his gun, Ford’s eyes widening as it was yanked from his belt and thrown towards the ground. He made frantic eye contact with the leader of these bounty hunters and sputtered out something that sounded like a protest at first before he was blinded with the red of the leader’s target on the gun.

This was it. Everything was over. He knew the next stop would be to Cipher, assuming and half knowing they had portal tech on them. What would happen to him next was shrouded in mystery and he could only predict what punishment the unpredictable chaos demon would bestow upon him. His eyes shut tight as he cursed himself for not being more prepared for bounty hunters here.

“You’re coming with us, Stanford P-“

Just then, the larger version of the faceless humans raced toward him and grabbed Ford’s gun that lay on the concrete below, whipping around and shooting the alien with the surplus of arms in the head, the vibrant blue of a lazar slicing through the skull of the beast and sending a rain of discolored bloody residue over Ford and the ground beneath it. 

“What the f-!” The leader managed to scream before the accomplice-turned-traitor of the bounty hunters uppercut the alien boss underneath its jaw and an inhuman screech bellowed from (what sounded like four) sets of vocal cords as it tumbled into the wall behind it. The punch was a dull yet loud collision of something metal against flesh and Ford's eyes shot open at its echo across the alleyway. The human punched it again squarely in its cheek and it howled once more before the targets of the firearm it wielded quickly turned on the new attacker, a red beam of light fixed on the human before they launched themselves forward and grabbed the gargantuan arm of the bounty hunter, separating the gun and send it clattering to the ground.

“Mind grabbin’ that, Ford?!” The human called out to him, keeping hold of the bounty hunter’s arm with all of their strength, and climbing up it to wrap around the monster’s neck. 

_What? But those faceless beings can’t talk-?!_

Ford, regardless, raced at the gun, being slowed by the other hooded alien that snatched the back of his coat to drag him off balance. Cursing under his breath, Ford whipped around and sent a kick flying into the alien’s side, bringing it to the ground before launching a boot straight into its forehead. The alien thereon was unresponsive and Ford took that as an opportunity to snatch the firearm from off the ground and turn its red target right at the beast that was left.

The leader of the goons threw his head back and crunched the human behind it to the wall. Ford’s breath caught in his throat as he heard the human cry out in pain before they tightened their grip and brought the bounty hunter down to its knees. “You son of a bitch!” The human bellowed as they choked the bounty hunter out, it’s wails and threats cutting in its throat before they emerged. The human looked up at Ford, their faceless gaze seemingly boring into him from under their hood.

“Shoot him! What the fuck are you waiting for?!” 

Ford’s eyes were wide as he mindlessly pulled the trigger at the command and the monster screeched again as a green light blared from the firearm, encompassing the alien in a bright hue and… disintegrating all of its matter right before his very eyes after shedding its flesh into a putrid crimson and purple gore that would forever be burned in Ford’s corneas for as long as he would live. The human clambered off of their victim and backed up before they could be burned by the same substance that had shriveled the bounty hunter into nothing. 

They both looked down at the remains of the alien they had fought off and breathed heavily, Ford still holding the alien firearm in trembling hands.

“Hey, not bad!” The human, out of nowhere, aggressively patted a hand on Ford’s back. “I don’t much care for these guys. Bounty hunters now’a’days are all so sloppy.” They ambled to the side and pocketed the pamphlet the alien once held which dripped with remains of its previous owner’s scorched flesh and oozing blood. “So-!” They clapped their hands and rubbed their palms together. “Ya wanna head on outta here or?”

“O-out of here? I don’t,” Ford stammered and turned his attention towards his accomplice. “I don’t understand. Who are you?!” He waved his hands in the air as he walked towards the human.

“Whoa, hey! Don’t go wavin’ that thing around, you can see what it can do.” The human backed away from Ford. Oh right. The gun was still in his hand. He paused and looked at the other with a blank stare.

“The safety switch is on the side of that thing.” They said, pointing at the alien’s firearm. Ford studied it and his thumb grazed a series of buttons. “Right there, to the left,” The human muttered. “No, no. My left, your right. There we go.” Ford flipped a small switch on the side of the gun and it powered down, the red target light diminishing into darkness.

“I’d keep that if I were you. Your lazar gun, while fun to use, needs a little time to charge up after just one shot. Not so entertaining when you’re in a scuffle like this, and I bet this ain’t gonna be your last.” The human advised and Ford nodded quickly he slipped the gun onto his belt.

The more this human spoke, the more... familiar... his rumbly voice seemed to be.

“Um… Thank you. For saving me.” Ford mumbled.

“Yeah, yeah, anytime. So hey, that other faceless guy that was with us ran off. We got a little bit of time before he probably goes off and gets help? Not to mention this other poor asshole,” The human motioned with their foot towards the alien Ford had knocked out previously. “could wake up at any time.”

“Should we…” Ford glanced up at his acquaintance before reaching onto his belt. 

“Kill it?” to his surprise, the man laughed, their head thrown back. “Look at ya, one big ol’ kill and already you’ve gone morbid. Ya know, the taste for blood is an addictin’ one.” 

Ford opened his mouth to spout something back, thinking he was going to say something like ‘This isn’t my _first_ kill’ or ‘how would you know?’ but the man cut him off with a near-immediate response. “Nah, let the fucker catch up on some Zzz’s. After all, he’s just someone caught up in something he needs some re-evaluation on. Unless ya think he’s gonna come back for _you_ , then do as you please. I’m outta here.”

The man fumbled across his own belt and whipped out a device that resembled a remote of some sort. They pressed a button, aiming the contraption right in front of their feet and a medium-sized wormhole appeared in the ground. Ford’s eyes shot open as he frantically glanced from that to the hidden expression of his accomplice. “Y-you have a device to open wormholes?!

“Yeah. You comin’?” 

“Well we’d need to calculate the properties of where we’re going first so that we can, I don't know, _not_ die?“

The man laughed and scoffed “God, you’re such a _nerd_. Just jump in!” They waved for Ford to follow and walked in themselves, the wormhole brimming with a translucent cyan glow.

Ford swallowed nervously as the man’s figure was swallowed in its hue, but something about them made Ford…

Trust them. 

They did just save his life after all. 

Maybe…

take a leap of faith?

Ford nodded to himself once and took multiple steady breaths before holding it and leaping feet-first through the portal below him. 

* * *

He dropped onto rocky ground, pebbles piercing his hands as he landed on his rear and pushed himself up on his elbows. This was a completely isolated area, canyons stretched far and wide and the sky a dark maroon and indigo, several moons and planets visible in its dark and dismal display above him. 

The gravity, however, was stable as ever and Ford rose to his feet, hearing the crunch of rocks and dirt beneath his boots. 

“So you managed to drop in after all?” The man was a fair distance away from him. “Ya know, I didn’t think you would follow. I had my hopes a little high. Hopes a little high, expectations a little low. That's my motto.”

“That was absolutely reckless what you just did! Do you realize what the repercussions could have been if this place wasn’t safe? Haven’t you ever had to worry about being crushed by the atmosphere? Or not being able to breathe the air and having to fumble with a mask?!” Ford scolded and advanced towards the man. 

“Oh Man, you’re exactly as I remember." The human threw his head back and his hood tumbled off, revealing dark russet-colored hair with a few streaks of emerging gray at the ends. "If not a lot more crabby. Portal life not treatin’ ya fairly?”

“Remem- wait. Who are you?” 

“Whoops! Yeah, my bad. Got caught up in the moment. It depends what kinda Ford _you_ _are_ but hey, you don’t seem that bad right now.” The man's fingers ran under a seam that was just below his chin and slid off a _mask_ of the faceless creature he made himself out to be. 

Ford’s eyes widened when he gazed at the face of someone who he hadn’t seen in _years._ It was entirely recognizable, being plagued by only minor things like the years they’ve endured apart. As well as an eye-patch covering his right eye.

“Wouldn’t ya believe they sell these things,” The man wobbled the mask around in his grip. “They sell masks of their celebrities and political figures like they can tell each other apart! Can’t figure that one out. That has to be one of the craziest versions of earth I’ve been to, heh.”

“S-stanley?!”

“Hey, what's up Sixer?”

“Wh…” Ford stammered and pointed at his brother, his _twin,_ and, oh god he was _here_ and _how_ did he get here? There were so many questions! “W...what are you _doing_ here?!”

“Same as you, Poindexter. Well, probably not the _same_ but similar situation. Look, we’ll get to talkin’ and all that but hey, are you hungry? I sure am after that hell of a workout! I’m gonna make us up a fire.”

Stanley walked off to a cavern in the side of one of the canyons and Ford was still stiff with shock but coming to his senses, raced after his twin, right at his heels. When they made it to the cave, there was still enough natural light from the series of moons in the sky to see each other faintly and Stanley slid down the wall, groaning as he did it, onto his bottom as he took off a knapsack that was slung across his back, opening it to peer inside. Ford sat across from him as Stan pulled out some kindling and a lighter and crafted a small fire between the two of them.

“I got some bread, water, and…” Stan pulled out a small satchel from his bag. “Okay, Check this out, I gotta brag to at least someone, this thing is like a mini-fridge inside. I don’t know how it does it but I wish we had stuff like this at home. Inside I got some meat and the pièce de résistance!” He fished out two beer bottles and tossed one to Ford, who caught it haphazardly. It was ice-cold but he just saw his brother pull it from a woolen satchel. That was impossible… but mystifying!

“Thank you,” He popped open the bottle and took a drink. He was pleasantly surprised by the familiar taste of a refreshing beer. “Oh my god.”

“Right?!” Stanley exclaimed and laughed, his shoulders shaking in bliss. “It beats most things ya get to drink out here.”

“Where’d you get this?”

“I dunno, I was in some marketplace of some kind and found it. I didn’t know what that universe did for money so I just swiped it while they weren’t lookin’. Along with a couple other things. The essentials.”

“You haven’t changed.” Ford chuckled as he took another drink. Stan skewered the meat of some unidentified animal (alien? alien animal? mammal? Was it edible?) with a stick and bobbed it over their fire. 

“Eh, on the surface you haven’t either until I found this-!” Stan rummaged through the pocket on his coat with his other hand and fished out the wanted poster he snagged from the murder scene. “Nerd’s first wanted poster! You can’t imagine how proud I was. Nearly brought tears to my eye. But you don’t wanna see this face cryin’. Not a pretty sight.”

“Oh. Yeah… I... Uh, minor crimes and also... Bill.” Ford broke eye contact with Stan, glancing away.

“Hey, don’t get all down in the dumps 'bout it. At least yours looks better than mine.” Stanley set the poster on the ground and rummaged through the same pocket, removing another crumpled up pamphlet and unrolled it with a flick of his wrist, the picture displaying Stan with an awkward and gross expression like if the photo was shot when he least expected it. “Ta-Daa!” He proudly exclaimed.

Ford couldn’t help but cover his mouth and snort, eventually breaking down into a cackling of sorts as Stan rolled up the poster.

“Yeah, that photo was taken out of context-“

“No wait, don’t put it away yet! let me see it!” 

“You’ve seen enough for several lifetimes. Besides if you keep your eyes open, you’ll see it again in no time. _Especially_ if you wind up visiting Lottocron 9 later on in the future.”

“What’s Lottocron 9?”

“Gambling dimension. That’s all they do. It’s all mandatory there. That’s all they are. Day and night. I swear to someone, if there is a god, they put me in the right place then and there. Making lots and lots of money then just losing it all the next day and repeating the cycle over and over! Heaven itself, Ford, I’m tellin ya. And it’s where I won my wormhole-transporter thing.”

“I was just about to ask how you managed to get your hands on one! I’ve been trying to get one myself because I gave up hope on finding a genuine portal gun where the fluid isn’t fatal. I keep turning up empty.”

“I’d pay it a visit. You’d have a better chance of winning one than buyin’ one out here. They got every single form of gambling you can think of. And women. _Lots_ of women. I spent _years_ there right in Cynn City. Happiness in a nutshell.” Stan grinned smugly.

“If only I could get that lucky. Lately, I’ve been jumping dimensions that are just frustrating and rather annoying! I’ve been unfortunate enough to cross by the M dimension, where I'm hoping to disregard M as a letter for the rest of my days.”

Stan snorted out a laugh. “M dimension?”

“You _really_ don’t want to hear about it. Trust me on this one.”

“Alright. No further questions regarding the M dimension. Or the L dimension, or how ‘bout the J-” 

“ _Stanley.”_

“Okay okay, I’ll stop,” Stan replied. “Wait, no, one more. Did they have your poster in the M dimension? Did they call it _m_ enacing? _M_ oody? _M_ ysterious?” He exaggerated every M, drawing the sound out in a teasing manner.

“What’s so wrong about it?!” Ford scoffed but then crossed his arms and smirked. “Are you just jealous I look better than you do in yours?”

Stan chuckled and quickly shifted his voice into a mock impression of Ford. “Look at me! I’m an interdimensional outlaw! Gotta look super cool just like I planned for all of that alien ass I’m for sure about to get.”

“Look, like you’re any better, you imbecile,” Ford joked. “What's with the portal pirate getup?”

“The what, now?” Stan raised an eyebrow.

“You know, the eyepatch? Care to explain that?”

Stanley’s smile fell instantly. As well as Ford’s in response as his whole body suddenly became tense in the indistinguishable notion he had just fucked up.

“I… uh-“ Stan started and rubbed the back of his neck, breaking eye contact, staring again at the fire and managing a small sheepish grin when his gaze darted back up. “That’s a difficult one, Sixer. Heh, wish you’d ask anything else.”

“We don’t have to talk about it. I’m sorry.” Ford quickly tried to recover but the damage was done as he watched thoughts and anxieties tumble behind his twin’s eye.

“No, it’s alright,” Stan said confidently. “Hey, what are the chances we get to meet here in the multiverse, of all places? You deserve some sorta answer. I, uh…” He cleared his throat and turned over the animal cooking over the fire, flames lapping across the browning meat. “I couldn’t get away fast enough once I got sucked in this whole mess. Man, that nightmare realm is a real… well, nightmare.” He snickered and Ford’s heart fell to his stomach. “Bill didn’t much care for me once I dipped into his little sunspot. Who could blame him? I was the wrong guy, I get it. Anyway, yeah, that happened.”

“Oh…” Ford attempted as best a reply he could, drawing a new kind of awkward silence over both of them. It hung there for a while before Stan sat up straight again and cut the silence like butter. 

“I got away though! And boy was _that_ a victory for the ages! I’m the lucky one it seems like though, cuz I ain’t got that stupid triangle’s cronies on my back. I ended up being wanted just cuz. Stealin’ and transporting illegal shit here in space. Didja know I found the equivalent of a cartel that deals cosmic sand?”

“The same kind Time Baby drinks?”

“That’s the shit!” Stan chuckled and took the meat off the fire once it was done. “Folks out here pay a pretty penny for it and I know the sole location of where to get truckloads! You get drunk _fast_ off that stuff. At least if you're human.”

“That’s incredible! You’re the only real person I can picture getting into something as crazy as that.”

“Yeah... though lately I’ve been findin’ myself hanging out with bounty hunters. These ones just happened to be Muffuklians. Ugliest species I've come across and dumb as all hell, too. They knew just who I was and hired me. I just kinda blend into whatever public we’re in and act as their scapegoat for the time being. Manipulate 'em and cash in later. Well, until I found you. Fuck those other guys. How long were you hangin’ around that place anyway?”

“Oh, well I just got there, actually. It was… freaky. Yet intriguing. An entire world, still with the advancements we’ve made, technology, irrigation, _cities!_ But they don’t have faces!”

“Heh, that’s where you’re wrong, Poindexter. They do, you just can’t see them right away.”

“Huh?”

“You know how our face is on the _outside_ of our skin? Well, theirs are…”

“Oh.”

“Yup.” 

“That’s weird.”

“And really fucking creepy! I know you weren’t there long but it makes every bit of me just shrivel up when I see the outline of their mouth gaping and eyes blinking on the other side of their flesh.” Stan shivered. “Straight outta some horror movie, right there.”

“Agreed. I don’t believe I’ll find myself returning there any time soon for any reason.”

“Ditto. Well, wait. I dunno. There was a really nice smoothie joint I hit up before the gang wanted to go south so I might traverse back once in a while as long as I don’t have to interact with no one.”

Ford wholeheartedly laughed at that and took another drink. 

The silence was brought back but Ford didn’t feel so bad about it this time. Stan cut up the animal he cooked and handed Ford half of it on a separate skewer. “Also before you ask, it’s edible. That’s as much as I’m gonna say.”

“Okay,” Ford replied and hesitation rippled through his arm as he nervously took the mystery meat from his brother. Swallowing roughly, he watched Stan dig into his half and took a small bite out of his half of cooked vermin.

It wasn’t all that bad.

Tasted like chicken.

As much a cliche as that was.

“Good?” Stan mumbled with half of his mouth full. 

“Honestly? Yeah, it is.”

“Tastes like chicken.”

Ford stopped before taking another bite as a laugh unwillingly escaped him. “It’s like you read my mind!”

“Eh, your mind’s never been much difficult to read, no matter what dimension you come from.” Stanley washed down his portion with the cold beer by his side.

_What dimension I come from…_

Ford pondered on that as he ate, reflecting back on what Stan had to say about _his_ experience falling through the portal… The last time Ford’s even _seen_ Stan was when he was floating in mid-air, desperately reaching out for his twin and screaming at him to do _something_. And if they were in the multiverse then doesn’t that mean…

Was there another universe where Stanley endured the same fate? Had encountered Bill and escaped with only the clothes on his back leaving him to traverse the multiverse with no direction? Had he been having to fend for his life throughout various instances of life or death? Based on everything Stan’s told him, that seemed to be the only legitimate and logical conclusion but it pained him too much to admit it to himself. 

“You’re not the Stanley I grew up with…”

“Nope. I’m not.” Stan agreed in a monotonous tone of voice as he stuffed his mouth again. Ford looked up at him with a puzzled (and somewhat hurt) look on his face and opened his mouth to speak before Stan raised his hand. “I know, I know. It’s weird, right? The whole infinite possibilities, different results thing? It took forever to wrap my mind around it until I ran into another Ford before you.”

“Oh, well I would expect there’d be other versions of us out here if we had been pulled into a dimensional portal. Just, with this place being so infinite, the mere chance of us encountering each other is so minuscule that there are more zeros in that percentage than one could ever comprehend.”

“Ugh. And yet I couldn’t even get three numbers matching on a lottery ticket.”

“But, aside from me, you met _another_ Ford? That’s astounding! When there are infinite versions of me spanning across time and space, you come across two?” 

“Yeah. And, god, at first, I was so _happy_. I thought you came for me. But that wasn’t the case. He was real kind, though. Let me down easy. Even told me a bit about us out here.”

“I take it we're a pretty big deal around the multiverse if both of us are wanted for something or another.”

“Hell yeah, we are!” Stan beamed, but it was obviously faked. His smile faltered over the course of another string of silence.

“What’d he… I? Me? have to say?” Ford mumbled curiously.

“A lot. It’s uh… pretty touchy stuff. If you’re ready for it.” Stan took a bite from the meat and pulled at the cooked skin in his teeth until it snapped and he chewed slowly.

Ford nodded solemnly, mentally preparing himself for the reasoning which could only link to the background of the fight they had before each one of them took a swan dive into the recesses of space. Stan leaned backward, finishing his meat and setting the skewer down by the fire. He took off his coat and let it drape over his shoulders as he crossed his arms in front of him. 

“My Ford ain’t comin' for me. I’m pretty much stuck here forever.” Stan said flatly as he maintained a strict and hardened gaze, looking straight at his twin.

Ford’s eyes widened, eyebrows knitting together in a pitiful expression. “Stan… you don’t know if that’s tr-“

“Don’t start. I’m tryna be mature about all this.” Stanley sighed and seemed to cave into himself. “That’s the fates of Stans out here. They don’t _go_ home. The portal’s too dangerous to re-activate and nobody knows what’ll come out the other side. I mean, come on, would _you_ turn it back on to save me?”

Ford stiffened and his mind raced to think of something, but every word he _wanted_ to say, every reassurance he thought he could give _died_ in his throat. It could unleash hell on earth...! The consequences would be catastrophic.

He wouldn’t.

“It’s okay, Ford,” Stan muttered. “You built the damn thing after all. You know the chaos it brings. It ain’t worth bringing somebody back. I know that now. Most Stans are out here wandering aimlessly and not knowing that ever. So many of them suffer that fate and I’m no exception. The Ford I saw was years older... maybe decades... and he told me he’s seen so many… and hey, it’s for the good of the world or whatever that the portal stays powered down.”

“D-do you know what happened to your Ford?” Ford blurted out and slightly cringed because of his inquiry.

The corner of Stan’s lip curled up slightly then dropped as he stared downwards again into the fire. “Wish I did. The other Stanford said some Fords left on earth could successfully and eventually Bill-proof their minds.”

“You know about... my contract?”

“Yeah. Not such a smart choice there. Sorry if-”

“No, no, I second you on that one. It wasn’t. It was the biggest mistake of my life. Or any of my lives come to think of it… so how did they accomplish keeping Bill out?”

“They would use a machine they built before or their hillbilly assistant-“

“McGucket.”

“ _McGucket_ would make them a doo-dad based on unicorn hair to ward the demon out. It’s smart. They could find a way to double-cross that triangular motherfucker.”

They both shut their mouths and hesitated before Ford clenched both of his fists around the skewer in his hand. They became so tight that he was trembling in a quiet rage.

“I’m going to kill him.” Ford declared.

“What?”

“I’m going to kill Bill Cipher. The plans for a Quantum Destabilizer are tedious but I am currently traversing across all the dimensions I can find to scrounge for parts. Once I have everything, building it will be quick and efficient. I’m going back to the nightmare realm and I’m going to kill him.”

Stan’s eyes widened for a minute before he closed them and let out a sharp chuckle. “Hey. Send me a postcard for when you do. Hell, maybe attach his bow-tie as a present.”

Ford smiled. “I will. If I get to keep the top hat as a trophy.”

“Fair’s fair.” Stan shrugged.

They sat in another period of quiet, both turning their heads as they viewed the night sky outside their secluded cave in the canyon wall. Meteors flew across their vision every so often, swimming through a pool of planets and moons that encircled the world they were currently on as if the stars were koi in an extensively well-maintained pond. 

“You know…” Stan started, his voice emerging as some sort of croaked out drawl before it could be stabilized. His temple was pressed against the rocky wall and Ford gave him a side-glance which his brother didn’t return.

“I think of him all the time. What he’s doing. If he’s out there. If he even remembers me. I know he’s not lookin’ for me but I hope he’s one of the Fords that did things right at home. I hope to _God_ he’s smart enough to take care of himself now that I’m out here.”

“You always did take care of me.” Ford offered.

“Yeah. That’s the thing about me… we, I mean. After all this time it still feels weird to admit there's more of _me_ out there. Us Stans care too much. There are some odd ones out but overall, we care. Sure, it may seem like I didn’t when I threatened to burn that book of yours but I truly did…” Stan closed his eye tightly and Ford could hear a sniff from his side. That was enough to cause Ford to look directly at his twin in sorrow and remorse, which only made Stan draw closer to himself in frustration. Stan breathed in shakily and _choked_ the rest out as if his life depended on it.

“I truly did _care_. Your version of me does too. Look, I dunno if your brother is working on turnin’ that thing on again or if he’s ignored your warnings or not but if you get the chance…” Stan hesitated and rolled his head along the wall to look at Ford. Ford could clearly see tears in his eye and his chest felt numb and empty as his twin continued. “Go home. Sure, end-of-the-world is dangerous and all but just... _go home_. It depends on his stubbornness after all, and he's as stubborn as people get. He’s reckless but he misses you. I miss you-“

Ford watched helplessly as his brother lowered his head as he clutched his eye in his palm. He grumbled something under his breath and stood. “I can’t do this…” 

Stan walked out of the cave and Ford paled, scrambling up as he ran out to his brother. “Stanley, wait!” calling out and grabbing the broader man by his shoulder, Ford turned him around and gazed into his eye, feeling his own two fill with tears.

“Goddammit-! Stanford, I’m so _sorry-_ “ Stan managed to say in his cracking voice but was cut off when Ford wrapped his arms around him

hugging him

as tight as he could muster.

Ford felt his brother stiffen and hesitate but eventually returned the embrace, if not tighter than Ford had delivered it. 

They stayed quiet for a while after that, their fire crackling behind them as they were surrounded by the darkness of this unfamiliar planet. It was Ford that broke the silence then as he let silent tears wet his brother’s shoulder. 

“I know, Stanley. I am too.”

Ford half-expected him to snark back something that would have made the entire situation worse, such as ‘ha! You should be!’ or ‘that would have been nice to know ten years ago’ but instead he stayed mute and pulled away from the hug with a soft and grateful smile on his face. “Thanks.”

“Of course. I’m..." Ford inhaled slowly "I'm not gonna let you take all the blame for this. It would give you too much credit.”

“Okay, there he is.” Stan nudged Ford playfully. “Thought I lost you there in all that sentimental bullshit.”

“Lost me? Do you know who I am, you knucklehead?” 

“Well, I just found out you’re the guy who’s gonna kill that good-for-nothin corn chip.”

“Exactly. And I’ll have you to thank for it when I get home.”

“You bet your ass you will,” Stan smirked and slung an arm around Ford’s shoulders. “How about tomorrow we stock up on some rations in a universe that _doesn’t_ want us both dead?”

“That sounds like a plan,” Ford replied as they both walked back to the cave. “I got an extra portable sleeping bag if you want one.”

“Man, would I? I’m sick and tired of findin’ rocks an’ pebbles in places I wouldn’t ever wanna find em in the first place!” 

“Ew, what's wrong with you?” Ford laughed and Stan laughed with him as they set up the sleeping bags in the cavern.

Ford recollected on the day as the two settled down into their respective sleeping bags alongside a still-roaring campfire. He imagined he'd stick around with Stanley for as long as possible now that they've found the other...

And even if they weren't the version of the other's twin they grew up with

It wouldn't hurt anybody to just pretend for some time, right?

Pretend they hadn't messed up big time in both their scenarios? Make-believe everything was okay for a little bit?

At least, it was with Stanford. He didn't know this version of his brother but a part in him knew

it was going to be okay with him too.

The rest of the night was filled with harrowing, victorious and suspenseful explanations of dimension-hopping tales, last-minute escapes, and sibling banter between the two of them. Each one seemed to easily spawn another and boredom was never an option.

As the planet kept on rotating 

And when sleep became unavoidable

He promised he'd get home to Stanley.

And tell him about all of this once he gets there.

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wanted to write a one-shot about a portal stan and ford talking things out, it's one of my favorite forms of stangst and i crave more.  
> Anyway, I had such a good time writing this! Wanted to divert from my chapter fic for just a little bit to cram out some of these. Low-key wanna build up more on this account besides the 2018 stuff haha  
> The portal gun is a reference to rick and morty idk how to make that more obvious with the dangerous portal fluid lol  
> also also "Muffuklians" is just a made up word that basically translates to "mother fucking aliens" if said real fast so thats sorta fun  
> These boys make me cry so much help send tweet  
> Comments are so much appreciated ;v; tag along in my sorrow!


End file.
